


Normal for the Night

by masulevin



Series: Northern Lights [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drinking, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, One Night Stands, Oral Sex, Smoking, Synthesis Ending, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 19:29:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14900582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masulevin/pseuds/masulevin
Summary: More than a year after refusing to join the Andromeda Initiative and more than nine months after Commander Shepard ended the Reaper threat for good, Avery Ryder is ready to find someone to help her pass the time in a new nightclub that opened up near her London home.The person she finds? None other than James Vega, finally back from the Normandy's emergency run through the Charon relay.Previously titled "Shore Leave."





	Normal for the Night

**Author's Note:**

> This IS the same Avery from Dissonance, just in a different timeline. Let her live her life!
> 
> I should go, it's getting late  
> But I'ma keep on dancing 'till I feel okay  
> So keep on playing that song that I don't like  
> I just wanna feel normal for the night  
> "Normal" by Sasha Sloan

Reconstruction is still in full swing outside the walls of the club, the months between the final end of the Reaper invasion and today only enough for the most important of repairs. Hospitals, schools, and places to live, all are top priority to the Alliance and the local government, and they've been working hand-in-hand alongside the surviving allied Reapers to get earth back to where it used to be.

Avery’s been working long hours almost every day since the end of the war came and she could finally put down her gun. She never wanted to be a soldier and had avoided joining the Andromeda Initiative specifically because she had wanted to stay in London and avoid joining the Pathfinder team… and now, here she is, two years later, a decorated veteran and low-ranking Alliance officer.

Alec would be  _ so  _ proud.

The club’s opening had surprised her. She isn't sure where the alcohol comes from, and she isn't sure who put the money into restoring this particular bombed-out building, but she isn't going to argue or even look too closely.

She's here to forget all of that. She's here to forget the sound of the Reapers, the way they lit up the sky during the long nights between their initial invasion and the day Commander Shepard somehow ended their threat for good, changing the Reapers and the surviving Milky Way species. She's here to forget the nightmares and the fact that her remaining family is in cryogenic sleep and won't wake up until she's been dead for 600 years; she’s here to forget the eerie green that sometimes appears under her skin.

The music is loud, the beat vibrating through her body, and the drinks are making her head buzz pleasantly. The girlfriend she dragged with her has long since left, leaving Avery alone on the dance floor. She moves from partner to partner, searching for the right person to spend the next couple of hours with.

A man finds her at the bar, warm eyes and a light Scottish accent attracting her attention. She declines a drink and offers a dance instead, and they spend the next three songs learning each other’s rhythm. She encourages him to touch her, molding her body to his until he breathlessly asks if she wants to get out of here.

He’ll do for tonight, so she winks at him and grabs his hand, pulling him off of the floor and to the front of the club.

She realizes something's wrong when he suddenly yanks his hand out of hers and stops moving.

“Gabby know you're here, Ken?” A deep voice, pitched to carry over the music, cues Avery into what the problem is.

Her almost-date for the evening is pale when she turns back to look at him, eyebrows raised. He isn't looking at her; instead, his attention is wholly on the hulking beast of a man standing between them and the exit.

“You have a girlfriend, Ken?” Avery’s voice is carefully free of judgment, but the unamused look on her face lets him know that she isn’t all that happy about helping him cheat on his partner.

The guy who interrupted them takes a step closer, hands tucked into his pockets, and leans a little closer. “I was under the impression that you two were  _ engaged.  _ Or am I wrong?”

Avery groans and stares up at the ceiling of the club to collect herself before turning back to Ken. He’s glancing back and forth between him and the new guy like he wants to leave but isn’t sure he has permission, so she jerks her head toward the door. “Go home, Ken.”

He bolts, and Avery turns to the guy who politely ruined her much-needed one-night-stand.

“Thanks. You saved us both some trouble later.”

He just shrugs at her. “He’s a good kid. He’s just dumb.” His lips twitch in a little smile, and Avery finds herself drifting closer to him.

She either has to go home alone again or start over to find a new person to take with her, and Ken was the first person to grab her attention all evening. She doesn’t usually go for the big, beefy guys, but this one seems like a good one. He looks out for his friends, at least, and that says something for him.

She bites the inside of her lip, considering, and gives him a quick once-over. “What’s your name, soldier?” 

His eyes snap back to hers from where they were gazing out at the crowd. He grins at her, a slowly blooming smile, and crosses his arms over his chest. The motion draws her attention to his arms, which she’d swear he’s flexing for her benefit, and he treats her to the same up-and-down glance that she’d given him.

“James.”

She lifts one eyebrow and cocks her hip a little. “Can I buy you a drink, James?”

His smile grows until she can see his teeth glinting in the dim club lights. “Yeah, sure you can. Lead the way.”

She does, winding her way through the crowd that easily parts for James’ bulky form, heading straight for the bar to order some shots for herself and her new friend.

They chat a bit as they drink. Avery introduces herself properly, asks if he’s new to London (yes -- he's on shore leave after what was effectively an eighteen month deployment, but he refuses to give her any more details), and then she lures him out on the dance floor with a wink and a promising look tossed over her shoulder.

Dancing with him is different than dancing with Ken. James is more confident in his body, following the beat with an ease that would make Avery feel awkward in comparison if she wasn't so distracted by the heat of him at her back and the span of his hands over her hips.

She reaches up behind her to rest her hands on the back of his neck, and he bends into her touch until she can feel his breath against her neck and just the tease of his lips near her skin.

It sends a thrill through her, just that little bit of contact enough to make her wet. How long has it been since she’s had a partner that makes her feel like this? She presses her lips together and tries not to moan, unwilling to sound so desperate so soon, but James tightens his hold on her and tugs her hips back until he’s grinding an unmistakable hard-on against her ass.

He’s not ashamed to groan, so he does, low in her ear, and -- even though she’s not one for flowery language -- she can definitely feel her cunt clenching in anticipation. If she has to go home alone after this, she’s going to be  _ very  _ disappointed.

James seems to be on the same page as her, though, because as the song they’ve been dancing to starts to fade into the next, he spins her around and puts his hands on her ass to keep her body pressed to his. She rests her hands on his arms and licks her lips at the feeling of his muscles bunching under her touch.

“Ready to get out of here?” His voice is low and thick in her ear, and the old, pre-war Avery would be embarrassed at how desperate she’s being when she melts against him and nods… but the new, postwar Avery  _ is  _ desperate, and James is proving to be the perfect companion for the evening. 

“Come on,” she says, stretching up on her toes so she can speak directly into his ear. “My place isn’t far.” Feeling both bold and wholly unwilling to release him just yet, even with the promise of heading back to her apartment, she grazes her teeth over his earlobe. She’s rewarded with his fingers tightening hard enough on her ass that she’s momentarily lifted off of her toes and into the air like she weighs nothing.

When he sets her back down, she grabs his wrist and pulls him behind her back toward the door. Outside the club, the chilly air makes goosebumps stand out on her skin, and she squints up at the sky out of habit, making sure the Reapers are still glowing green instead of red.

“You’re not engaged too, right?” She tucks her hands into the pockets of her jeans and glances up at his face. Under the streetlight, she can see the scar that curves across his nose and cheek, and briefly wonders where it came from before immediately deciding she’s never going to ask. 

He laughs and throws one arm around her shoulder, tugging her against his warm body. “Nope. No girlfriend, either.”

She grins and nudges him with her shoulder to point him in the right direction, and together they head toward her apartment. It’s in a row of houses not too far from the club, a comfortable walking distance for her when she’s totally sober and not completely horny, but doable even now, both tipsy and turned on. Her new neighborhood hadn’t been completely destroyed during the war, only partially, but they walk past a few still bombed-out homes before they reach the repaired ones at the end.

She starts to unlock the door, but James interrupts her before she can open it by pushing her back against the cold metal and pinning her in with his arms on either side of her head. She tips her chin up to look at him, breath suddenly harder to find, and licks her lips before his mouth finally descends on her. 

She has to stretch to reach him, hands grasping at the back of his neck to hold his face against hers. She opens to him, their teeth clashing together only once before his tongue finds hers. He kisses with an enthusiasm that’s infectious, making her curl her fingers tighter against the close-cropped hairs at the back of his neck. Her fingernails dig into his skin, too short to do any real harm, but enough that he growls low in his throat and presses her body tighter against the door.

He releases her lips with a wet noise, and Avery reaches behind them for the door handle. They stumble a little as the door swings open behind her, and she shushes him with a giggle. She locks the door behind them before leading him directly up the stairs to where her bedroom waits for them.

She takes her top off as she goes, giving James what she knows is a very enticing view of her bare back and leaves the fabric in a puddle on the stairs. She picks up speed when she hears James starting to climb up behind her, but he catches her on the landing and wraps his arms around her once more.

His hands find her breasts as surely as his lips find her neck, his fingers squeezing and pinching while he leaves a trail of wet kisses from her shoulder up to her ear, where he bites her just as she bit him in the club.

She swears at the sensation, arching her back to press her breasts more firmly into his hands, encouraging him to continue exploring her body while she squeezes her eyes closed. When both of her nipples are hard and pebbled in the cool air of her apartment, he slides his left hand up to her collarbones and his right hand down to brush across her stomach.

She stands still, chest still heaving as she tries to catch her breath, and spreads her legs so he’ll have room to do what she desperately hopes he’s attempting.

His fingers only stop long enough to undo the button and zipper of her jeans to give him enough space to slip inside her panties. She whimpers and grabs his wrist with one hand, trying to make him move faster, but he seems content to tease her for now. His fingers drag through her wetness without touching her clit while his other hand holds her steady against his chest.

“Mmm, fuck, James…” Her voice is already high and breathy, and she digs her fingernails deeper into his wrist. “Come on.”

Instead of giving her what she wants, he pulls away and spins her around again so he can snag another kiss. She bites his lower lip and yanks his belt free of its loop while he tugs off his shirt. She leans away so he has room to pull the fabric over his face, and she freezes when she sees the sculpted lines of his chest and stomach and the dark lines of ink that draw her eye.

“You look like a goddamn statue.” Avery traces the edges of his tattoo with her left hand while letting her right wander down into the front of his pants. 

James tips his head back and groans as her warm fingers wrap around his cock, and he hardens fully under her gentle touches. He jerks in her hand when she bites at his pec, and she muffles a giggle against his skin. She pumps him slowly and leans forward to press her tongue to his nipple just under the tattoo, glancing up at his face to see how he reacts.

He doesn’t say anything, but he does winds his fingers through her hair and tips her head back to kiss her again. His thumb brushes over the amp port at the base of her skull, and the resulting shock makes her knees go weak and she falls against him.

He catches her with his arms around her waist, a question on the tip of his tongue, but she cuts him off with an embarrassed chuckle and pulls away.

“Sorry,” she says, cheeks flushed with a combination of embarrassment and arousal. “Biotic.”

James blinks at her before he figures out what she’s saying, then his mouth makes an attractive little “o” as he realizes what he did. “Did I hurt you? I’m sorry--”

He reaches for her with one hand, but the other has replaced hers on his length, cupping himself through his pants.

She shakes her head, eyes narrowed as she watches him idly touching himself. “I’m fine. It’s just sensitive.” She cocks her head to the side and looks back up at his face, considering, then crooks her finger at him to follow her. She turns, leaving him at the top of the stairs, and steps into her bedroom.

He chases after her in time to see her shoving her pants down over her hips. She has to hop to pull them off, tight as they are, but when she’s naked, he’s still staring at her with a hungry expression on his face. “You bring your own condoms or do you want to use mine?”

Again, it takes a moment for James to catch up to her, but the moment his brain registers the question, he’s shoving his pants down and taking off his boots too. Avery walks backward to sit on the edge of her bed and watches him move. His body is broad and strong, tattoos curving attractively along his muscles. Avery licks her lips and leans back on her bed with one hand, using the other to dip between her legs.

When James is naked too, cock standing out proud from a nest of dark hair that trails up his stomach, he holds up a single square packet that she instantly recognizes, and she nods at him in approval when he rips it open and rolls it on.

He stalks slowly to the bed, but before he gets his hands on her, she rolls over and props herself up on her hands and knees. She can’t see him this way, but she can hear him freeze when presented with her bare ass up in the air.

She rotates her hips, shaking her ass at him to lure him in closer, and she smiles for the half-second between him starting to move again and him falling to his knees to bury his face in her cunt.

Her arms give out and she collapses face-first onto her mattress, a loud wail forced out of her lips. James’ fingers spread her open as his tongue dips inside of her, tasting her, making her squirm in his grip and push back against his mouth.

She hadn’t planned on asking for this, not from a stranger, but his tongue is talented and she can’t help the loud moans that she buries in her mattress. 

She can hear him, too, when she silently gasps for breath. Wet noises of him licking her clit combine with his moans and little grunts as he pushes her with impressive speed toward her orgasm.

She comes on his tongue with a silent wail, fingers fisting in the sheets and teeth clenched together, and he just… keeps going. He doesn’t slow down, doesn’t stop, just laps up her arousal like he’s a man dying of thirst. Sweat gathers on her skin as she struggles against her second orgasm, fighting as it threatens to overwhelm her. It’s too much, too fast, too soon, and she’s still trying to get away from it when it crashes over her all at once.

James takes pity on her this time. He works her through it, then releases her. Her trembling thighs give out under her and she collapses onto the bed in a ball, still gasping for breath and letting tiny moans escape as the aftershocks rock through her. She can hear James’ low chuckle at her expense, but she can’t do anything about it.

Still overwrought, she lets him move her onto her back and arrange her legs the way he wants: straight up in the air so that her ankles are near his shoulders when he stands back up. He takes his cock in hand and strokes it a few times until Avery finally opens her eyes again and looks up at him.

He’s grinning down at her, smug, and she can’t even find it within her to be annoyed at his attitude.

As far as she’s concerned, he’s  _ earned  _ the right to make that face.

“ _ Dios, _ you taste amazing.” His voice is rough with arousal, and Avery finds herself shuddering at the way he sounds. “I want to fuck you.”

She nods, fast, so he won’t tease her any longer. “Yes, yes, please. I want to feel you.”

He flashes her another toothy grin. “Oh, you’ll feel me.” He lines himself up and rubs the tip of his cock through her wetness, catching it on the opening before moving it again. Avery arches her hips to try and coax him into entering her, but apparently, he hasn’t had enough teasing yet.

He starts to press into her, just an inch, then pulls back out despite her protests. He eases back in again, a little more this time, then pulls away once more. Avery pulls her lower lip between her teeth and groans, body limp under him, and covers her face with her hands.

James chuckles again, though the noise is choked off when he slips inside of her again and she clenches around him. That seems to settle it for him, and he gives up on the teasing to slam fully inside of her.

She wails, arching her back and trying to spread her legs wider to accept him, but he grips her thighs hard enough to hold them in place. He grinds his hips into hers, pushing as deep into her cunt as he can reach, and swears roundly when he starts to pull back out.

He fucks her in earnest now, chasing his own end with abandon. The wet sounds of their flesh slapping together fill her room, only barely quieter than the steady stream of Spanish that falls from his lips and washes over her in waves.

Her toes curl and her back arches, her hands reach over her head to press against the wall so she can hold herself steady under his thrusts, and then she comes for a third time as he fills her so perfectly over and over  _ and over.  _ She screams with this one, overwrought and overcome, and doesn’t even notice when James slams into her one last time and comes with a near-silent groan.

He pulls out and collapses next to her on the mattress, and her feet fall to the floor with a soft thump. She’s gasping for breath, hands covering her eyes once more, and even from where he sits next to her in the dark, he can see her thighs still trembling as she tries to press them together.

“Holy shit,” she finally gasps out. “That was…  _ holy _ shit.” James grunts in agreement, trying to stretch out sore muscles in the narrow space left at her side.

She forces herself to sit up, propped up with both hands, and grins down at him. Her hair is wild, dark strands sticking to her face and neck with her sweat, and James can’t resist reaching up to twirl a lock of it around his fingers. 

It’s too intimate a moment for strangers, and Avery pulls away before James can. She stands, still wobbly, and makes her way to a room he can only assume is a bathroom. She shuts the door firmly behind her and stares at her reflection in the mirror as she leans against the counter for support.

What does it say about her that the best sex of her life was with a random soldier she picked up at a nightclub?

She frowns at the pale green lights she can see moving across her skin in the mirror and steps into the tiny shower to clean up. She washes away the sweat and the lingering tingles from his kisses, chewing on the inside of her lips in anticipation of the cigarette she can have as soon as she’s cleaned up and James has gone back on his merry way to wherever he’s been staying on his shore leave.

When she steps out of her bathroom in a too-big t-shirt and her wet hair dripping down her back, James is sitting on the edge of her bed, fully dressed and tying his shoes. He pauses and watches her, eyeing her up and down as she moves to open the window.

He finally crosses the room to her when she lights her cigarette, and she arches her brows at him as she takes a deep drag. He plucks it from between her lips, and she watches him with a soft smile. 

He exhales slowly and then leans down to give her a long slow kiss, his free hand sliding up her arm and into her wet hair. He seeks out her amp port with his fingers, brushing over the sensitive node to make her moan into his mouth and clutch at his shirt with both hands.

He’s laughing when he straightens back up, but Avery just sags against him and rests her forehead against his chest. She feels him take another drag off her cigarette before he speaks.

“I’m planetside for at least two more weeks,” he says, and she leans away to take her cigarette back from him.  A little space between them won’t hurt right now. “We should do this again.”

Avery considers his offer for half a second before deciding it’s the best idea she’s heard all month. She pulls up her omnitool’s interface to send him her information, and he mirrors her actions so their contacts can sync.

“See you around, James.”

He winks at her, and then he’s gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://ma-sulevin.tumblr.com/).


End file.
